Kessler Fellows applications are now open for 2021-22.
Kessler Fellows is an entrepreneurship program rooted in the College of Engineering. The program is open to all juniors at Cornell University that have a strong interest in entrepreneurship. Students will engage in a semester-long immersion aimed to help them cultivate their entrepreneurial readiness before their summer experience with a startup.
Any junior at Cornell University with an interest in entrepreneurship are encouraged to apply.
Through the generosity of Andrew J. Kessler '80 EE, Fellows receive a weekly stipend during their summer internship and travel costs will be covered.
The program involves a one-credit course during the spring semester, one-on-one time with an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and a presentation at the conclusion of their summer experience.
I learned so much more than I could have ever expected in a 10-week timeframe. The fellowship certainly got me more excited about entrepreneurship and showed me that there is a clear—albeit difficult—path from research to company to patient.
Going into the summer, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do after college. I knew I wanted to work on something impactful in the bioelectronic or biomedical field and thought working at a startup or getting a Ph.D. would be the best route for that. Being a Kessler Fellow allowed me to talk to many different people about how their careers progressed and learn from their successes and mistakes.
“ Academics are important. I wanted to get out there and do real things. Getting involved with start-ups is not the typical route, but it was what I needed to do."
-Georgia Crowther, Kessler Fellow
Ahmed Elsamadisi ’13
Recognized on Forbes "30 Under 30" Lists, Elsamadisi founded a startup called Narrator AI and is a graduate of YCombinator. Earlier in his career, he also leveraged his Cornell connections to land a position as a Senior Data Engineer at WeWork.
Shanee Lu ' 11
After completing her Kessler Fellowship, Lu was accepted into Cornell's competitive eLab student accelerator and she launched Qubit, a startup enables coaches to speak directly into their players' helmets. She also landed a position as a product manager at Wyze.
Michael Gingras ’17
Gingras interned at Ideo through his Kessler Fellowship and launched a bitcoin startup called Dexter in Cornell's eLab accelerator. Upon graduation, he has served as a software engineer at companies including Nasdaq, Gearflow.com, and Sora.
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